


service with a smile

by edgeofthewall



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Retail, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-08 14:16:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6858364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edgeofthewall/pseuds/edgeofthewall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Working in retail is the worst, and Bellamy remembers this all too well. So it’s natural for him to want to help out wherever he can; the employee being cute is just a nice bonus.</p>
            </blockquote>





	service with a smile

**Author's Note:**

> so here i am, emerging from the trash, to give you this. i read [this post](http://petty-revenge-stories.tumblr.com/post/143353034104/put-it-where-it-is-supposed-to-go-or-go-crazy) and, naturally, immediately thought of bellarke. as one does. actually, is there a single thing i read ever that doesn’t make me think of bellarke? probably not. anyway, i apologize for nothing.

Bellamy is bored. Actually, bored might not be a strong enough word. The word to describe how bored he is hasn’t even been invented yet.

The word describing how dramatic he is hasn’t been invented yet either.

Really, Bellamy doesn’t mind driving Octavia anywhere she needs to go. He knows the idea of getting her license after surviving the car accident that killed their mom isn’t a particularly appealing idea to her. And she’s his baby sister. If she needs to go to the store, then whatever.

But he hates grocery shopping, and he especially hates grocery shopping at Walmart. The moment he walks in he gets a headache, which he credits to the lighting and the seemingly never ending crowds of people. 

Octavia has a long list, way too long for him to be able to tail along with her the whole way through the store without them killing each other, so she sends him off to entertain himself. Which is impossible, but he’ll humor her and try not to look too murderous as he wanders the aisles.

It’s in the chip aisle that he spots a customer putting a huge bag of frozen chicken nuggets on the shelf. He hates when people do that. He worked retail when he was granted custody of Octavia, and he hated when he’d find a frozen or cold item on a regular shelf because then they’d have to just throw it away. Throwing food away when it wasn’t always easy to afford it at home always made something ache deep in his stomach.

Bellamy spots a Walmart employee with wavy blonde hair, who is totally cute by the way, walking toward the bag, shaking her head the whole way. He makes up a decision right then and there and quickly crosses the aisle. “I’ll take those, actually,” Bellamy says when he reaches her, flashing her a smile. She’s even cuter up close, with blue eyes that meet his.

He reads the name Clarke on her nametag as she glances over his shoulder at the woman’s retreating figure. 

“Are you sure?” Bellamy is pleasantly surprised by her voice. She’s tough looking, but soft, with curves and everything. But her voice is actually pretty low. She looks tired, the sort of tired he recognizes from retail, the sort of tired that only results in white old guys throwing a tantrum over their fifty cent discount not being taken off right away. “They were in her cart for awhile. You’re welcome to get a colder bag.”

Bellamy waves that away, picking the bag of chicken nuggets off the shelf. “Oh, I don’t want them for me. I want them for her.”

He doesn’t wait to see the confused expression that crosses her face, though he does catch the moment she realizes his plan when he turns around to give her a thumbs up. She smiles. It’s a nice smile. She’s really cute.

Bellamy carefully approaches the woman, who is intently staring at all the flavors of Doritos, and very quietly places the chicken nuggets back into her cart. She doesn’t even notice him as he retreats, going back to Clarke.

“Pretend like I’m asking you a question. Like I’m confused as to why there were chicken nuggets in the chip aisle. Oh, I’m Bellamy by the way.”

“Bellamy. I’m Clarke.”

“I saw the name tag. How many gross comments about it being a guy’s name do you get during an average day of work?”

“I average about ten on a good day. Oh, she spotted the chicken nuggets.”

Bellamy is so pleased that she’s going along with this that a wide grin breaks across his face. “I can’t turn around or it’ll be too obvious. Give me a play-by-play, would you?”

Clarke nods seriously, as if this is the most important thing she’ll do today. Which is actually probably true. “She’s looking around, back at the spot where she put them. She looks really confused.”

“Naturally. I would be confused to find chicken nuggets in my shopping cart too. After all, their true home is among the chips.”

“Honestly, it’s like she doesn’t even understand how grocery stores work,” Clarke replies smoothly. “Okay, she shrugged and put them on the shelf where she is now, and she’s going into the next aisle.” Looking a little sad, she shrugs. “I’d better get rid of those now. Thanks for the break in the monotony.”

Before she can move past him, Bellamy scoffs. “You’re going to let her get away with this that easily? This is war now, Clarke.”

Clarke looks skeptical. Well, a tiny bit skeptical. Like there’s a tiny part of her that thinks maybe she shouldn’t spend her shift fucking with customers, but the rest of her clearly thinks this is the best idea ever. He can convince that part with no problem.

“I could get fired, you know.”

His eyes drift to the expensive looking watch on her wrist and he raises his eyebrows. “Do you even need this job?” There’s no accusation in his tone, just genuine curiosity. Because he is curious about her. And not just because she’s cute, though that’s certainly a factor. She seems cool in the few minutes they’ve spent as partners in…. is it a crime to put chicken nuggets in someone’s cart? Probably not.

Clarke doesn’t miss his glance, and she doesn’t seem offended. “Yes, I do. I don’t sell my dead father’s possessions for money.” The comment is easy, like she’s mentioning the weather.

“Nor would I expect you to. My sister wears our dead mom’s clothes like they’re going out of style again.”

This is something they don’t tell you about when you lose a parent. You become part of a sort of club, a club of people who felt a chunk of their entire being die with their mom or dad and the only way to cope is to act like it’s not a big deal. But it is a big deal. It’s a huge deal.

There’s a pause, not an awkward one, and Clarke fills the silence first. 

“You’re going to lose her if you don’t go now.”

He’s totally going to ask her out after this. “See you in the next aisle,” he tells her, saluting like a soldier going off to war before grabbing the chicken nuggets and rounding the aisle. Clarke goes in the opposite direction to watch from the other side.

And that’s what they do, all the way through the entire food section of the store. Clarke makes herself look busy straightening shelves, while Bellamy carefully follows the woman and puts the chicken nuggets back in her bag every time she abandons them on a new shelf. One time he even manages to get them into her purse, and Clarke has to hide a shout of laughter underneath a cough, and it takes Bellamy a solid five minutes to compose himself.

“I’m thinking we need a big finale,” Clarke tells him when they reach the last aisle. It was his idea, and she was hesitant at first, but now they’re totally a team, and it’s kind of awesome. They’ve even gathered a small audience to watch them slowly drive this customer into madness, following them from aisle to aisle.

The woman is totally pissed off now. He’s not sure why she just doesn’t give up and put the damn chicken nuggets back in the normal spot, but if she wants to be an idiot, he’s not going to complain. He’s having fun at a grocery store for the first time in probably his entire life.

“Any ideas?”

“How good is your throwing arm?”

And that question is what places Bellamy in one aisle over from Clarke and the customer. She’s standing at the end of both aisles, using gestures to carefully place him. When she gives him a thumbs up, Bellamy knows he doesn’t even care if he makes the shot because this was easily the best day ever.

He lets the nuggets sail, watching them disappear on the other side, and a thump, loud crunch, and shouts of laughter from Clarke and the other customers tells him he hit his target.

Clarke runs over to him, high fiving him with impressive strength and it takes everything in him to not hug her in victory. Because she’s cute and he’s weak and he doesn’t even care.

“In a moment of true poetic justice, they landed on her chips. And busted the chip bag. And the nuggets bag.”

“What did she do?”

“Grabbed her purse and abandoned her entire cart while everyone watching cheered. I have a huge mess to clean up now and my manager is totally gonna scream at me, but it was completely worth it.”

Bellamy would definitely feel awful if she got fired, and it must be obvious on his face, because she immediately continues. “If I lose my job, I’m sure there are plenty of other shitty retail positions out there.”

“Clarke-”

“Hush. I’m serious. This was so fun and we get treated like shit here anyway. Now I’ll have an excuse to find a better job.”

He’s not entirely convinced, and, well, her potentially losing her job does give him an opportunity. “When’s your shift over? Can I buy you dinner?”

She’s about to answer when Octavia appears, her shopping cart basically overflowing, and it makes Bellamy feel wonderful knowing they can afford this now.

“Hey, Bell. What the hell happened in that aisle over there?” Her gaze shifts to Clarke, eyebrows knitting together. “Did my brother make your job more difficult by making a mess? I see a mess and immediately assume it’s Bellamy’s fault.”

Clarke laughs at that. “It’s an interesting story, actually. Your brother can tell you about it after his date.” She looks back at him. “I get off at seven.”

Bellamy grins. “I’ll be here.”

Clarke gives him one last smile, shooting him a tiny wave, before she disappears to the aisle with the mess to start cleaning it up, leaving Octavia looking incredibly confused and Bellamy like he just won the lottery.

At dinner, Clarke orders chicken nuggets, and Bellamy is pretty sure he’s going to fall in love with her. Driving a woman to abandoning her cart in the middle of Walmart has a knack for bringing people together.


End file.
